Suchergebnisse

Starting with J. Galtung's structural theory of aggression, stress is put on the ecological background of conflicts, esp conversion of energy through plants & animals. The role of the horse is studied extensively & exemplified by pastoral nomads, Plains Indians, etc. Group conflicts seem to be concomitant to the introduction of new mechanisms of conversion of energy. One of the most striking characteristics of industr'ism is precisely the constant & strongly accelerating stream of new methods of converting energy. The 'white race' has been considered beyond comparison the most warlike of all races, & there is much evidence to suggest that its warlike traditions lead back even to the earliest Indo-European migrations in Late Neolithic time & the Bronze Age. As the acquisition of new instruments of conversion of energy seems to promote belligerence-whereas again war means an enormous stimulus to technological development-the out-feedback-input model probably should be applicable to the study of war. Since war is a structural phenomenon apparently endemic in Western industr'ized countries, their structures, & accordingly their values, have to be changed in r to inter-state structures in the direction of soc & econ'al equality. This would mean values which make for cooperation rather than rivalry; creative, constructive activity instead of aggression. IPSA.

An attempt to draw a scale of man's impact on the environment, by applying to him the ecological laws already derived from the study of animals & plants, & by listing the processes of man's management of his planet. 5 major phases are recognized: (a) primeval/submission, (b) pastoral/domestication, (c) settlemen/cultivation, (d) industr/substitution, & (e) climatic & cosmic/cosmic outburst. Re phase (a), the 1st 3 steps show little evidence of anything but acceptance of environment by man: (1) virgin land, (2) gathering, & (3) hunting & fishing. In phase (b) in herding & agriculture a great advance is made in man's dominion over nature: control of migration, introduction, acclimatization, naturalization, & eventually domestication. In step (4), herding, the mustering of homogeneous (usually monospecific) pop's of animals implies many developing features: territorial control, protection, selection, exploitation, & migration. Phase (c) contains step (5) agri, which rests upon a widely improved knowledge, & it introduces a greater perturbation & transformation of the environment: agri'al taxonomy, the ecology of cultivation, & the channeling of resources. Re phase (d), human economy undergoes one of its major shifts when the ecosystem inhabited by a given group no longer produces any appreciable amount of staple food materials & is therefore geared to processing & not to harvest. It includes step (6) industry (water & power, minerals, organic mining, vegetable materials, animal materials), & step (7) Ur'ization, which is fundamental to the sci & art of town planning. Parallel to the destruction of natural ecosystems, industr'ization & Ur'ization have brought about large-scale perturbations that go under the general heading of pollution. Re phase (e), the conquest of the atmosphere, & more recently of extra-terrestrial space, has lifted man's capacity to the geological level. This phase includes step (8) climatic control, & (9) exobiological escape. Finally, the interaction of culture & of landscape management is discussed. The processes of man's manag are exploitation, substitution, engineering, & designing. These 4 main processes are to be seen at work successively, as they represent an increasing consciousness of environment & a corresponding developing power to model it & make it fit the ideal image. Such an image itself is far from static & the satisfaction of basic requirements of the ethnic group results in the emergence of new & more complex desires. E. Weiman.